Sunset  sunrise
by Felix-RaAk
Summary: After having successfully stopped the rebellion in Hell, Keiichi and his three goddesses return home in high spirits; however, one phone call changes all the plans the four might have had


**Sunset**

Disclaimer: I do not own "Ah! My Goddess" or any of the characters or anything at all, for that matter. Furthermore, I do not even try to make money with this story and so on and so forth.

After having successfully stopped the rebellion in Hell, Keiichi and his three goddesses return home in high spirits; however, one phone call changes all the plans the four might have had...

Keiichi felt the gentle breeze in his hair, he felt the warmth of her soft body leaning against his back for support, he felt his heart beating brimful of life as they were slowly catapulted out of Hell by the fastest broom in the world. He still could not believe that they had defeated Hagall by simply indulging in their love for each other in the most desperate of times. Again, this warm and pleasant feeling spread through his body like a healthy disease and poured through every pore of his very being in order to infect each and every person on earth with his happiness. And even though Belldandy was sleeping, her arms suddenly encircled his body in a loving embrace, almost as if she could feel his love. The young man closed his eyes for a moment, while a radiant smile brightened his features. They had defeated her and he had helped. He was not worthless after all.

As he opened his eyes again, he could see the gate. Soon this devil's ride would be over, but he wished that they could stay like this forever; just the two of them in a peaceful place, without having to worry ever again. A sudden cough jolted him out of his daydreams, though, and he quickly jerked his head to his left. Skuld was flying next to him, darting a disapproving glance at her sister's sign of affection towards the young man, before looking daggers at him. A tinge of a blush crept over Keiichi's face as he raised his hands in defense.

"It's not my fault," he defended himself automatically. "I didn't do anything."

"Yes, it is," she answered him sourly, curling her lips, before giving him a charming smile, "but I guess it can't be helped, can it?"

"What? Why?" he asked confused, but Skuld had already turned her head in the other direction and deliberately refused to look at them or answer his question, pretending that she had not heard him. Slowly he turned to Urd, who was flying on his right side, and glanced questioningly at her. She answered his clueless expression with a genuine laugh.

"It is your fault, because she can feel your love," she told him with a weary smile and slowed down a bit. "So can we, for that matter, and it gives us new strength. Love is the most beautiful gift a goddess can receive and the most deadly poison to a true demon. If you had asked me why you two were able to defeat Hagall, 'love' would have been my answer. Bell trusted in you, generating a powerful shield that Hagall could not penetrate, and you amplified her power infinitely by simply trusting her with all your heart."

Keiichi said nothing. He turned his head, so he could look at his peacefully slumbering goddess. After the demon had shown him what it meant to be inhuman, he finally understood just who Belldandy was exactly and he loved her more than ever. He knew that they could overcome any obstacle as long as they would face it together. Suddenly, a ray of pure sunlight illuminated Bell's gentle features and the young mechanic smiled warmly down at her sleeping form. His heart beat furiously against his chest as he understood the implication of his thoughts, while the broom slowly descended to the tarred ground. Finally he got off the broom, thanked it for its invaluable help, swept the goddess into his arms and watched the broom vanish from sight, before he carried her through the entrance of their home.

"I guess mother is as good as her word," Urd muttered under her breath while looking at the temple. It had been restored to its usual form just as Hild had promised them. Slowly, she walked behind the two lovebirds. "Skuld, do me a solid and leave those two alone for the rest of the day."

"Why should I?" the girl asked stubbornly. "It's not like they're married or something!"

"Funny you should say that, you spoiled brat," the eldest sister said absentmindedly, folding her arms behind her back contentedly, "because it's about to happen. Don't you feel the dazzling wave of love radiating from his very being, don't you see his resolution? But I guess you're too young to understand."

"What's that supposed to mean, Urd? Do you want to pick a fight?" Skuld asked in a dangerously low voice. Urd, however, ran away from her instead of waiting for her attack, and stuck her tongue out at her little sister. Meanwhile, Keiichi slid the door to his home open with his right foot, carried Belldandy inside and laid her gently unto her futon before returning to the entrance.

"I see what you meant, Bell," he whispered softly as he watched Skuld yelling at her sister while trying to catch her. "Those two really get along great. Urd, would you come over here for a sec? I need you to do me a favor."

Instantly the goddess turned her head towards him with a sly smile. In the blink of an eye she stood in front of the black-haired man, keeping her sister at arm's length by shooting a serious glance at her. Smiling at him for a few seconds without saying anything, Urd studied the mechanic in depth, before she closed her eyes and sighed deeply.

"Today's your lucky day," she told him finally, "I'll do whatever you ask, but if you screw things up, I'll slip you a potion that'll turn you into a girl permanently. Are we clear?"

"Crystal," Keiichi answered, not in the least surprised that Urd knew what he was planning to do. "Would you take good care of Bell while I'm out?"

"Of course, I'll do that," she said earnestly. "You know that she'll try to find you the moment she wakes up, though, don't you? What am I supposed to tell her?"

"Just tell her to trust me," he said with a smile and ran past the two sisters to his motorcycle. "I'll be back in less than an hour!"

Hastily, Keiichi put on his old helmet, swung himself excitedly in his seat and started the engine. He could feel the vibrations beneath him as he accelerated, the wind passing him swiftly as he drove at full speed towards the Whirlwind, the unruly excitement and the inexpressible feeling of freedom as he looked at the blue sky. After all the craziness in Niflheim he finally enjoyed his own magic. Too soon, however, the joyride ended and he jumped off his beloved motorcycle, dashing through the door of the small shop while taking off his helmet.

"Welcome to – K! Where've you been?" Chihiro greeted him angrily as he stepped through the door of her shop. "I've been trying to call you all day long!"

"Oh boy! I'm really sorry! We had pretty important stuff to do," he answered her truthfully, scratching his cheek embarrassedly.

"More important stuff than your work?" she asked incredulously and eyed him suspiciously. "What can possibly be more important than your job? Care to tell me?"

"Well, it's kinda personal, you know," he told her evasively, looking at the ground. "I'll explain it to you some other time; but right now I have a favor to ask you: could you please lend me some money? Pretty please?"

"What for?" Chihiro asked with a deep sigh.

"You see, that's kinda personal, too," he said, turning red as a beet. "But I promise I'll pay you back as soon as possible!"

"Wait a second," the young woman said and walked up to him, grinning like a Cheshire cat and placing him in an uncomfortable headlock. "You didn't happen to do something to Bell, like, for instance, went and got her pregnant, did you? Did you? Oh my goodness! You did! Way to go, K!"

"Wait, no, I didn't!" Keiichi exclaimed and tried to squeeze himself free. "It's, well, I kinda like want to, you know, buy something for her and I'm one hundred bucks short. I, okay, I'm telling you, just let go off me! I want to buy her a ring!"

"Congrats, Keiichi!" Chihiro squealed in delight and let him free, while the black-haired man rubbed his sore neck in displeasure. "I thought you didn't have the guts to ask her anytime soon. Of course, I'll lend you the money!"

"Thanks, Chihiro!" Keiichi thanked her. "You're a lifesaver! How can I ever repay you?"

"You can repay me by literally repaying me," she answered him with a warm smile and handed him the cash she had taken out of the register. "I'll get an invitation for the wedding, won't I?"

"Wow, take it easy! It's not like we'll marry tomorrow or something. I haven't even asked her yet nor has she accepted," he told her, the blush seeming to be burnt in his face, and bowed deeply before turning around to leave the store. "Thank you, Chihiro!"

"Don't mention it," she whispered into the peaceful silence of the empty shop. "I wish you two the best of luck and I hope I'll see you guys soon."

"Ah, Chihiro?" the young man asked, his smiling face reappearing in the door. "Could you lend me another fifty? I forgot about the sale tax."

"You know, sometimes I wonder why you got Bell, K," she told him and gave him another fifty, shaking her head. "If you screw this up, I won't pay you for a whole year!"

The gorgeous goddess opened her blue eyes slowly as she awoke from her deep slumber, granting her the view of a fairly familiar surrounding. Her heart pounding furiously, Belldandy laid eyes on the beautiful rays of sunlight that burst through her windowpane with a loud clank, filled her whole room with brightness and denied her the chance to catch up on some sleep. From afar she heard the vague sounds of a phone ringing and smiled brightly. She did not know why she enjoyed the sound of a ringing phone that much, but she knew it meant the world to her. And then, suddenly, she remembered: she loved it, because it was a phone call that led her to Keiichi.

"Keiichi?" she called for him after she had gotten up. "Keiichi, where are you? Keiichi?"

"He's not here, but there's someone else here who wants to talk to you," her big sister's voice told her sternly as Belldandy opened the door to his room. "It's the Almighty!"

Keiichi saw the temple in front of him and slowed down, still smiling brilliantly. He loved riding his motorcycle, watching the landscape change and feeling the thrill of the speed and the excitement; and yet something was missing. He turned the last corner and parked the motorcycle. With a wistful glance at the sidecar, the young man petted its seat, since the bike had always been a faithful companion to him, and this was his way of saying thank you. And then, at last, he understood: not something, but someone had been missing on his way back home. He was so used to driving with Belldandy by his side that it felt awfully awkward to drive without her.

All at once, the young man felt his nervousness as he walked past the gate of the temple. Every beat of his heart seemed to pound painfully against his chest and the blood rushed to his head, making him feel light-headed. Step by step he approached the entrance of his home, while the weight of the box in his left pocket slowed him down considerably. After an endless time – or was it just a minute – he arrived at the door, took a deep breath of the fresh air to calm himself, gulped down the lump in his throat and slid the door open. Immediately, he was greeted by Urd and Belldandy, who both wore their formal dresses.

"Bell, Belldandy!" he blabbered incoherently. "It's, it's good to see that you're awake! How're you doing? Feeling all right? Good to see you!"

"Keiichi Morisato," Belldandy answered him in a firm voice and a blank expression. "The contract between you and me, Belldandy, first-class goddess, second category, unlimited license, is no longer registered in the system and thus no longer valid."

"Belldandy?" the young man asked her and carefully approached her. "What do you mean? Is everything all right? Did something happen?"

"Due to the fact that the contract is no longer valid," she continued in the same monotonous but firm voice, as though she had not heard him, "I am free to leave whenever I want. I hope you enjoyed your time, because I'll be leaving within the next ten minutes."

Keiichi felt a thousand daggers piercing through his violent beating heart of glass until it shattered into a thousand small pieces. His blood, which remained circling through his veins, powered by a miraculous entity, since his heart was no longer intact, carried off the pieces of glass throughout his body. Every now and then one or two of them were lost in the perpetual flow and pierced themselves into his body, causing him horrendous pain that he could neither cease nor bear till he felt nothing anymore; however, neither did his smile falter for even one second nor did tears well up in his eyes. He smiled radiantly at Belldandy with all his admiration and love for her.

"Belldandy," he whispered, his voice being barely audible. "If that's how you feel, I won't stop you. But answer me this question: why did you tell me you loved me when you obviously didn't? I though you couldn't lie!"

"I do love you, Keiichi Morisato," the goddess said, her empty gaze staring past him into the perfectly blue sky. "I love this planet and every being on it, yet I do not love you in any other way. As a goddess it is my duty to make you happy and by saying that I made you happy, did I not? But before I go, I have one thing left to give to you: this ring belongs to you."

"I guess so," he answered her numbly and stretched out his right hand to take the ring he had worked so hard for, while his left hand fumbled clumsily in his pocket and finally drew a small box out of it. He looked at the box silently until the silence's devastating shadow filled every corner of the temple and rang loudly in his ears.

"Uh, finally we can get out of here!" Urd brought the uncomfortable silence to an end, while she looked around the old temple in disgust. "I really hated this dump! A beautiful goddess like me should only reside in the most suited mansions. Nothing against you, kiddo, but I really, really hated it here."

"I understand, Urd," Keiichi told her with a smile and watched how Skuld appeared at the far end of the hallway, before turning to Belldandy and handing her the box. "Here, please take it with you. I don't have any need for it anymore."

Hesitantly, Belldandy took the box from his shaking hand and inspected it. It was so small and looked so fragile, as though it contained the pieces of the young man's broken heart. Her slim fingers touched the synthetic surface tenderly, trying to suck in as much of his love as possible. As she tried to open the box, though, the warmth of his hand on hers prevented her from doing it, churning up all her emotions for him that fought within her like the raving sea in a raging storm.

"Don't open it here, Bell. It's for your eyes only," the mechanic whispered softly and took her in his arms for the last time. "Thank you, Bell. Thank you for everything you've done for me. Those past years were the happiest of my life. I loved every second with you."

Embracing her softly, Keiichi remembered every obstacle they had encountered together and overcome: Mara, the Lord of Terror, Peorth, Welsper, Lorelei and even Hagall. He wished that he could hug her like this forever, but the tighter he held her the faster she seemed to slip out of his arms. After a few blissful seconds he let go of her and stepped back, because he knew that his true wish was not to hold her but to make her happy whatever that might mean for him and his happiness. For a split-second he thought that he saw tears glistening in her blue eyes and the faintest sound of a voice telling him 'farewell'. And then she was gone.

"Skuld," the young man said with a hollow smile, kneed down before the young girl and embraced her, "I want to thank you, too. You've never pretended to like me to begin with, but to me you were like a little sister. Although I've got nothing I can give to you, I'm sure you'll be just fine, because you're a fantastic goddess. And I'll make sure to drop Sentaro a note that you won't be around anymore."

"You idiot!" she yelled as he let her go, turned around and ran to the bathroom, tears streaming down her face all the way. "Why couldn't you just hate us all? That would've made things so much easier, you dummy."

"Now, don't go all touchy-feely with me, kiddo," Urd told him casually before he could say anything at all. "I was just here for my sister's sake. By the way, I'll take the TV with me, okay?"

Without further ado Urd vanished into thin air, leaving Keiichi all alone. The young man sat down on the hard, wooden floor in the middle of the hallway and stared blankly at the wall. He could not believe that they were gone just like this. He felt dizzy, because his memories forced themselves into his mind and showed him confusing remembrances of things past, all circling around a certain goddess no matter how hard he tried not to think of her. Just as the first tears started welling up in his eyes, he drew his knees close to his chest and hugged them in order to calm himself. He could simply not believe that she was gone.

Urd felt an unnaturally strong and chilly wind blowing past her as she manifested in heaven. She hid her beautiful face in the palms of her hands. After she had gathered her remaining strength, she looked about herself and found her two sisters sitting opposite to each other. Immediately, Urd rushed towards her younger sister. Belldandy was sitting on the ground, looking at the sky. Tears were gushing out her eyes, flowing down her cheeks, leaving a salty path, and dropping down unto her dress. The goddess of the past kneed down in front of her and embraced her.

"Bell, look at me," she whispered into her ear, softly caressing her sister's cheek. "It's better that way. The Almighty's word is law. It's better to break his heart once than to keep him longing, waiting for your return. He'll find a nice mortal woman, maybe Sayoko or even Chihiro, marry her and be happy. You did the right thing."

"Yes, I know," she sobbed. "But why does it have to hurt so much? Every time I close my eyes I see his smiling face and I feel as though I cannot breathe anymore."

"It'll ease with time, dear," Urd reassured her, wiping the tears from her face. "Now, don't you want to take a walk with me?"

"I do not wish for it to ease with time," she answered her sister sadly, "because that would mean that I would forget about him, would it not?"

Keiichi sat down on a bench near the ocean and watched the sunset. The sun's golden reflection in the water and the shadows of the night contrasting the reddish glow of the lingering light of day eased his spinning mind. She was gone. Forever. He had to accept the simple truth, and yet he could not stand the pain. Every once in a while, a familiar face walked by and greeted him, asking where Belldandy was and his answer was the same forevermore:

"Gone," he repeated once again, feeling a small portion of the pain leaving with every repetition, as Sayoko asked him about Belldandy. "Gone and she won't come back."

Sayoko sat down next to him, took his hand in hers, squeezed it tightly and watched the golden sunset with him. Together the two enjoyed the last beam of the setting sun and remained sitting next to each other, holding hands and not saying a single word, until the night had engulfed them completely in its veil of darkness. Slowly, Keiichi turned his head towards the young woman next to him and smiled weakly at her.

"Thank you, Sayoko," he said and wanted to stand up as the queen drew him closer to her and gently kissed his cheek.

"Peorth, there's something wrong on earth," Chrono exclaimed. "Something or someone is setting free a huge amount of energy and it's rising indefinitely."

"The Energy level is already beyond dangerous," Ere shouted. "Incredibly hazardous storms are forming everywhere. If this continues, a large part of earth will we destroyed. What should we do?"

"Why in heaven didn't you inform me sooner?" Peorth asked hurriedly and closed her eyes for a moment. "Locate the source, inform Belldandy, Urd and Skuld and prepare an emergency shutdown if something's the matter with the system."

"We couldn't! It was just there all of a sudden," Ex told her, frantically trying to locate the source. "And I can't find the source. It seems like something's wrong with the system!"

"No, the system's working perfectly fine, it's got to be something else," Chrono told them.

"That's crazy, it's got to be the system, because I can't even locate Belldandy, Skuld or Urd on earth," Ere interposed.

"Calm down, everyone," Peorth ordered. "Those three have to be on earth. I talked to Hild and according to her they got out of Niflheim just fine. This means they have to be on earth, unless – unless, shut down every transaction between heaven and earth immediately and try to locate Belldandy in heaven! Now! Do not open the gates until I return, do you understand?"

"What's the use, Peorth?" Ex asked bewildered. "No one can possibly influence the energy level on earth from heaven. That's simply impossible!"

"Do as I tell you! This is an order!" Peorth told them strictly and left the control room, while the three minor goddesses initialized the program.

"Emergency transaction shutdown in progress," Ere murmured under her breath.

"Energy level declining to normal," Chrono exclaimed wonderstruck. "I can't believe she was right about that! Who in heaven could've done such a thing?"

Peorth approached the residence of the three goddesses in a hurry. She could hear the sounds of people fighting within the mansion from this far already. Hastily, she landed in front of the door and wanted to open it as something crashed violently through it and into her. For a few moments she tried to fight off her aggressor, while the two of them landed unchecked on the ground, until she recognized her as Lind.

"What are you doing here, Lind?" Peorth asked baffled, got up and helped the other goddess stand up.

"I came here to bring Belldandy a message from the Almighty," she panted, but nevertheless charged right through the door again, Peorth being right on her tail. "So Urd, Skuld and I went into her room and talked to her, but she was merely looking at the mirror. And then, all of a sudden, she summoned the winds. At least, I think she did, but she didn't say one word. I didn't know it was possible to invoke this kind of power without singing or at least talking to the elements."

"Why didn't you counter her attack?" Peorth asked perplexed as they ran up the stairs, fighting against the strong winds that seemed to issue from the top floor. "Sure, she's strong, but you had Urd by your side!"

"We didn't have a snowball's chance in hell," she replied loudly, since the howling of the wind drained her voice. "We can't even come close to her! She's totally nuts."

"She's not nuts," Skuld told them, having sought shelter behind the open door of her sister's room. "She just can't control her emotions. Try to look in the mirror and you'll understand."

Peorth peeked into the room. With all the things flying across the room and Urd trying to penetrate her sister's shield, it was hard for her to even make out a mirror, let alone the image reflected in it. She fought her way closer to the mirror, trying not to be blown away by the wind like a green leaf in a light summer breeze, and was finally able to see the image in it; it was one single scene, repeating itself over and over again: a dark haired woman kissing Keiichi Morisato.

"Thank you, Sayoko," the black-haired man told her embarrassedly while scratching his cheek. "I guess that helped me forget about her for a second. It's really gotten late; do you want me to drive you home?"

"No, Keiichi, but thank you," she replied with a smile. "I live right around this corner. Maybe tomorrow or the day after tomorrow or the day after that."

Keiichi watched her disappear as she turned the corner. He sat back down on the bench, listening to the soothing sound of the waves crashing against the shore. He did not know why the waves suddenly increased in ferocity and he did not care. Eventually, he got up and walked towards his bike. He loved riding it no matter how much it reminded him of the beautiful goddess. On a sudden impulse, he looked into the side mirror and considered his appearance when Peorth emerged from it.

"P – Peorth? What're you doing here?" he asked and almost fell to the ground with surprise if it had not been for her hands that had grabbed and forced him into the mirror with her. Only a blink of an eye later he found himself in a havocked room that was controlled by uncontrollable winds. Hastily, he looked around and saw Skuld peeking in the room from outside, Lind, who tried her best to protect herself and the house from damage, and Urd, who tried to come closer to a person standing in the middle of the storm. And then he saw her, Belldandy, standing in the middle of the room, her blank eyes firmly fixed on a mirror.

"Belldandy?" he whispered softly.

His voice, however quiet in the storm, pierced through the loud howling of the wind and melted the heart of the hurt goddess. Belldandy turned her head around to him, while the storm subsided immediately. Hesitantly, he walked up to the beautiful woman, whose tears dropped to the floor one by one, exploding into a thousand smaller ones with a loud thud, each of them glistening every now and then like pure diamonds in the retracting rays of the everlasting sunshine. He gently wiped the tears off her face and embraced her.

"What are you doing, Bell?" he asked her quietly, feeling her quiver with emotions.

"I – I – I saw you, you and – oh, you must think I am a horrendous person!" she sobbed, "I saw how Sayoko kissed you and I could not bear the sight of it. The darkness in my heart, I could no longer control it, Keiichi!"

"It's okay, Bell," he reassured her soothingly, softly caressing her left cheek with his right thumb. "I could never ever think poorly of you. You're the most caring, most loving person I've ever met and I wish I could hold you like this forever; but I don't know why you reacted in this way. You don't love me, remember?"

"Keiichi," she whispered into his ear. "Keiichi, I do not love you, for this word is too weak to express what I feel when I am at your side. I was ordered to come back home forever and we are forbidden to bring mortals to heaven! I did not want you to wait for me, so I tried to make you hate me. That is why I said all those terrible things. I hope you can forgive me."

"Belldandy," he said, smiling radiantly at her. "There's nothing to be forgiven. I'm just glad you love me, because I love you, I always have and I always will and I would've never been able to forget about you!"

"Keiichi," she answered happily.

"Are you sure there is nothing to be forgiven?" a deep and mighty voice echoed from everywhere at once and simultaneously from nowhere at all, speaking directly to their hearts and yet clearly audible to all of them. "I think I have to apologize to you, my daughter. I think I have failed to tell you my intention in no uncertain terms and for that I must apologize. I have unnecessarily caused you trouble."

"The Almighty one," Peorth and Lind whispered at the same time, bowing their heads humbly.

"I did not want you to come home forever," the voice continued, "but to come home, for ever to be with him."

"Belldandy!" Urd snarled exhausted from the floor. "Don't tell me you, oh! My goddess! You two are one of a kind!"

"I am terribly sorry, Urd! Can you forgive me?" Belldandy asked worriedly. "Wait a moment, what you mean by 'for ever to be with him', father?"

The mighty voice, however, did not speak another word; instead, a pure and white ball of light flew through the door and stopped right in front of the two lovers. Urd, Skuld, Lind and Peorth all gasped as Belldandy swallowed the ball of light. Slowly, she leaned forward and pressed her lips against Keiichi's. A warm and pleasant feeling spread through his body as the ball of light flew into his mouth and directly on into his violently beating heart.

"I thought it a fitting gift for saving my daughters, Hild, Niflheim and suitable for your engagement," the voice told Keiichi, before fading into nothingness. "Immortality!"

_Oh! My Gosh – __this is the end of a truly cheesy one-shot. Geez, I haven't written a story in English in ages! I guess what I want to say is: sorry for the cheesy plot and the mistakes. I think I could've corrected a few of them, but I'm too busy being lazy. Anyway, based on the mistakes, what nationality do you think I am? Don't look at the bio, though, that's cheating!_


End file.
